While excited for UFC 99, Mike Swick's trip to Germany on par with previous visit

As the UFC’s latest venture overseas draws near with Saturday’s UFC 99 event in Cologne, Germany, the inevitable question asked frequently of all U.S.-based fighters is, “How will you deal with the time change?”

While the rigors of trans-Atlantic travel can lead to a fatiguing case of jet lag for the average vacationer, for a professional fighter the condition could lead to far-worse consequences.

But UFC welterweight Mike Swick (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) isn’t concerned about the trip to Germany. Why should he? It’s the second time he’s been there in the past two months.

“I went and visited the military,” Swick recently told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I went on a military tour and showed support and passed out a bunch of shirts from my new clothing line, Combat Life.

“I was just basically showing support and visiting hospitals. It’s great to do that. I’m a huge supporter of the military, and it’s good to get out and show those guys support. A lot of people don’t support them, and they do amazing things.”

Despite the fact that Swick was just weeks away from arguably the biggest fight of his life, a main-card bout with Ben Saunders (7-0-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC), the American Kickboxing Academy-trained fighter put his preparation on hold for an opportunity he deemed more important than mixed martial arts.

“When it comes down to a chance to visit the military, I’m never going to pass up an opportunity,” Swick said. “I’ve been training for so long, I was in fight shape before I left. I wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to visit the military just because of my fight.”

It’s an admirable sacrifice for the soon-to-be-30-year-old to have made prior to his bout, but Swick wants fans to know he didn’t cut short his training process, either.

“It’s the longest fight camp I’ve ever had,” Swick said. “I feel absolutely great. I’ve never been this excited. It’s going to be really cool to go back over there and fight.”

Swick said he has been working so hard in preparation for the contest that he’s been left with almost no weight to shed heading into Friday’s official weigh-ins.

“I wasn’t even trying to be this lean,” Swick said. “I’ve just been training really hard for over 14 weeks. It’s just the accumulation of all that training.”

“I feel stronger, more explosive and faster than I ever have. I can’t wait to get in there and show what I’ve been working on.”

Currently fighting in the UFC’s talent-rich 170-pound division, Swick is often overlooked in favor of champion Georges St. Pierre, the explosive Thiago Alves, newcomers Carlos Condt and Martin Kampmann, and even teammates Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck.

And while Saunders isn’t cracking anyone’s top-10 lists just yet – despite a brutal thrashing of Brandon Wolff in December 2008 – a win for Swick would put him at 4-0 in the division after compiling an impressive 5-1 mark at 185 pounds.

Swick believes that should be more than enough to earn him a fight with the division’s elite.

“I definitely want to get the big fights,” Swick said. “That’s why I train so hard and why I’m so pumped up for this one.

“I’m going to go in there and try to show that I deserve a big fight in my next fight. If I win this next fight, that will put me at 9-1 in the UFC against some tough opponents. I definitely think I deserve a big fight.”

And so Swick makes the long journey from the California to Germany for the second time in a span far shorter than most professional athletes would ever request.

And while many of the projected 20,000 fans that will fill Cologne’s Lanxess Arena on Saturday night may be getting their first taste of live MMA, Swick knows he’ll have at least a few friendly faces in the crowd as many of the men and women whom Swick paid a visit will be present to return the support.

“We’ve got like 300 people that I know of that are set to go to the event from the military,” Swick said. “I think it’s going to be really cool to see them there.”

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